Singapore's Multiracial Tapestry: Essays on Identity and Policy

The management of multi-racialism in Singapore is a complex effort that continues to receive significant attention today. Read the following articles, which provide various perspectives to current discussions on multi-racialism. 

i. Han, Fook Kwang (2019, April 24). Singapore’s Multiracialism: A Matter of Identity. RSIS Commentary No. 080. 

ii. Ng, Jun Sen (2019, September 24). PM Wins Global Interfaith Award, says equality of races and faith strengthened by Singaporeans daily. TODAY. 

iii. Shanmugam, K. (2019, October 15). Racial harmony: Five Critical Steps to keep the peace. The Straits Times.

There are different social science approaches which can be employed in any study of multiracialism in Singapore. Drawing upon these articles, as well as wider independent readings on the topic, this assignment requires you to deliver an integrated understanding of multiracialism in addressing the following questions:

a) Explain what multi-racialism means in Singapore’s context, and how the disciplines of sociology and political science may approach this topic differently. 

b) Trends such as increasing religiosity and inward migration may affect attitudes towards multi-racialism. Select one trend, and explain its possible impact on multiracialism in Singapore from the perspective of anthropology. 

c) Identify three policy measures taken by the Singapore government to promote multiracialism since independence and present an assessment on whether these measures have been effective.